1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the art of hand-held operated cutting tools or devices with a fixed or replaceable cutting blade, and more specifically to a ratchet-type hand tool for cutting different size work pieces, such as, plastic tubing or pipe conduits, rubber hoses, electrical or telephone cables, and other non-metallic materials. Further the present invention relates to a ratchet blade holder for removably attaching a cutting blade thereto without the use of tools and a sliding blade storage tray or compartment disposed along a surface of the hand-held operated cutting tools for housing replacement cutting blades therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known that a variety of hand-held operated cutting tools have been utilized for cutting different size plastic tubing or PVC tubing or pipe conduits utilized in both the plumbing and electrical industry. These hand-held tools include a pair of handles with one of the handles having a cradle or anvil portion for supporting different size work pieces and the other handle having either a fixed or replaceable cutting blade, wherein the pair of handles are displaceable about a pivot axis there between to easily cut the different size work pieces interposed between the cradle and the cutting blade. A few examples of such hand-held cutting tools are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,336,667, 3,772,783, 5,497,554, 5,625,951, 6,260,279, 6,513,245, 6,625,888, 6,658,738 7,080,455, 8,327,548 and U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2006/0207101 and 2010/0212162.
Although, the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in connection with a ratchet mechanism for displacing the pipe tubing cutting hand tool with a replaceable cutting blade for cutting different size work pieces. However, it is to be appreciated that the preferred embodiments could be utilized with other types of operating means for displacing the pipe tubing cutting hand tool with a replaceable cutting blade for cutting different size work pieces. The prior art ratchet-type hand-held cutting tools have a cutting blade that is incrementally displaced by a ratchet drive member and a pawl member about a pivot axis that connect a pair of handles together that allow the handles to be squeezed together, to permit the cutting blade to be moved toward the cradle for easily cutting through the different size work pieces. Once the work pieces have been cut the handles are separated from one another and the ratchet drive and pawl member are moved to a position that will allow the different size work pieces to be placed on the cradle, so that another cutting operation can be performed.
These prior art ratchet-type hand-held cutting tools have multiple complex components, such multiple springs, levers, linkages, screws, bolts, nuts, pins, cams, bearings, rollers, grooves or slots that receives the cams, bearings and rollers, ratchet plates with teeth, lock wires, locking washers and blades integrally formed on the ratchet or blade holders or plates or replaceable cutting blades removably associated with the ratchet blade holders. Also, in these prior art the ratchet-type hand cutting tools, tool maintenance including blade removal and replacement can be cumbersome and time consuming. Many of these prior art ratchet-type hand cutting tools have to be partially or completely disassembled by removing pins, screws, bolts, nuts, springs, locking washers, linkages, cams, bearings, rollers and the grooves or slots that receives the cams, bearings and rollers just to remove and replace the cutting blade and blade holder or plate. During the complex removal process, adequate time and specialized time along with specialized skill are often needed to remove and replace the cutting blade and blade holder or plate. For many of these prior art ratchet-type hand-held cutting tools, bulky and cumbersome tools are needed in order to remove and replace the cutting blade and blade holder or plate. Examples of these ratchet-type hand-held cutting tools are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,176,450, 4,312,127, 4,368,577, 4,674,184, 6,098,291, 7,743,509 and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0307657.
Also, many of the prior art hand-held cutting tools include a storage tray or compartment for housing replacement cutting blades. Note that many of the storage tray or compartment features may take on various designs, shapes and sizes as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,890,293, 6,000,137, 6,260,279, 6,269,542, 6,625,888 and 8,327,548 and U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2005/0050735 and 2010/0212162.
Even though the prior art hand-held cutting tools might have been creative, and well-thought-out inventions, that did function well for their intended purposes at the time of their creation, however none describe the unique ratchet blade holder with a removable non-standard cutting blade having a specific design and configuration of the present invention. Also, none of the prior art hand-held cutting tools describe a unique display replacement blade storage tray for replacement cutting blades that is slidable along an intermediate side surface between a handle portion and a cradle portion with locking means to removably secure the sliding display storage tray or compartment in a fixed position. Further, none of the prior art hand-held cutting tools describe the unique ratchet mechanism with a minimum number of ratchet components rather than the cumbersome, complex and multiple components shown in the aforementioned prior art hand-held cutting tools. The minimum number of ratchet components overcomes the use of multiple components that took up too much space within the prior art hand-held cutting tools and the amount of time and skill it takes to assemble and disassemble the ratchet mechanism therein.